Shannon pulled into a driveway in the middle of nowhere in a small town in Wyoming. "Well, this is it, guys. At least according to the address Nick wrote down.
"It's pretty deserted out here. Though I guess that's kind of the point," Kelly said as she began to get out of the car.
Shannon, meanwhile, popped the truck. "Kelly, grab the tool kid and the new plates from the trunk. Let's get the basics over with."
"On it," Kelly said before opening the drunk and pulling out the objects her mother mentioned.
"We should get rid of it anyway," Gibbs said as he and Tim both got out of the car. He wasn't an expert, but he didn't think keeping a car that could be traced by the Cartel to them was a good idea.
"Nick will come for it in a couple of days while bringing us a new one. In the meantime, we don't need someone walking by and seeing Nebraska plates," Shannon said as she started unscrewing the plate off the license plate.
Kelly scowled at the mention of Nick. She was still really pissed at him for lying about her father. "I'd like to kill Nick."
"Get in line, honey. He's mine first and I'm sure your father has already claimed the spot right behind me," Shannon said. She was pissed too. She had more than a few words for her bodyguard. She would send him packing if it weren't for the fact that he often kept them alive.
"I'd like to kill your mother more than him," Gibbs said angrily. Oh, he wanted to murder the bodyguard, but Joanne was the real issue. She'd seen how much pain he was in after losing Shannon and Kelly and she hadn't said a word. Worse, she'd caused her own daughter and granddaughter pain. He would never forgive her for that.
"Oh, if we ever see her again, there's not going to be anything left for you when I'm finished," Shannon said as she finished attaching the new plates. She then stood up, put everything back in the trunk, grabbed hers and Kelly's bags, and closed the trunk again. "Okay, let's head inside."
Everyone followed Shannon towards the front door and watched her open it before following her inside. They found themselves in a fully furnished living room. There was a black sectional couch and a matching loveseat with a reclining chair across from the couch and a clear glass coffee table.
"Nice place," Tim said.
"Yeah, Nick usually has everything set up and ready to move in to the new place by the time we have to. He's an ass and I wanna kill him, but he comes in pretty handy," Kelly said.
"Yeah, when he's not shoving a gun into the back of your head," Tim said half-jokingly before sitting down in the recliner.
"Excuse me, what?" Shannon asked as she placed the bags she was holding down and put a hand on her hip.
"Why do I keep telling people that? Look, it's not a big deal. It was only for like a minute," Tim said.
"I don't care if it was for a half a second! He didn't have permission to put a gun to your head!" Shannon said angrily. Now she was going to seriously mess Nick up. First he lied to her for years on her mother's orders and now he'd put a gun to her son's head? She was gonna kill him.
"It's not a big deal. It's not like he was actually going to shoot me. Can we just drop it?" Tim asked.
Shannon sighed. "Fine, but I will be speaking to him when he gets here. We should get settled in for now."
"Coffee?" Gibbs asked.
Shannon chuckled. "Some things never change. Nick might have picked some up. If not, there's some in the car. Hopefully it lives up to your standards."
Gibbs nodded curtly. "McGee, you wanna join me?"
"Um, no, Boss, not really," Tim said. He couldn't think of anything he wanted to do less. It was like asking if he wanted to get shot in the head. Actually, he might prefer that. It would probably hurt less.
Gibbs chuckled. "I'm sorry, that sounded like a request, didn't it? It wasn't one!"
"Dad, come on," Kelly said. She knew what her father was planning and she was not happy.
"Come on what? We're just gonna have a little chat," Gibbs said innocently.
"Jethro, I know you and I know what you mean by 'little chat'. You are not going to have that kind of 'chat' with Tim. You wanna talk to him, fine, but if he doesn't come back in one piece or I hear you tearing into him, you and I are going to have a 'little chat'," Shannon said in dangerously calm voice. She was very protective when it came to Tim. She knew what he'd been through at the hands of his parents and she wasn't going to let anyone treat him like that again, not even her own husband.
Gibbs barely managed to stop himself from cringing. His wife had become rather scary over the years, and with Tim, she appeared to be mama bear protecting her cub.
Shannon smiled satisfied that she made her point. "Go ahead."
"Mom," Kelly protested.
"It'll be fine, Kelly. You can't stop this from happening, but it won't get out of control," Shannon said with a pointed look at her husband. It was a last warning and she knew he knew it.
Gibbs looked at Tim and motioned with his head towards the kitchen before heading that way.
Tim took a deep breath before standing up and following his boss towards the kitchen. He found the man already rummaging through the cupboards for coffee. "Okay, Boss. I have to say first that I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't know Kelly was your daughter. I didn't even know who you were when I met her."
Gibbs didn't say anything for a few minutes. He just continued with his task. He found a package of coffee in one of the top cabinets as well as filters and went over to the coffee maker. It was only after he had everything he needed that he spoke again. "Would it have changed anything if you had known?"
"No," Tim said immediately. He loved his wife despite everything she'd done to him. He would never regret marrying her. Even when she left him, he didn't regret it. He cherished the memories he had despite the hurt it caused him. Even if he knew he would end up on the run, he would've done it. "Look, I know you probably don't wanna hear this, but I love your daughter. No matter what, I always will."
Gibbs finally turned to Tim with a glare. "Yeah. Did you love her when you were messing around with Abby or any of the other women you were with?"
Tim was caught off guard by the question. He didn't see it coming. He guessed he probably should've, but he didn't. And within seconds, it took away any amount of fear he felt and replaced it with anger. "How dare you?"
"Excuse me?" Gibbs asked, turning his completely towards the younger agent. He must have heard wrong because no way did McGee just speak to him like that.
"You accuse me of cheating on my wife? Who the hell do you think you are?! My wife left me nine years ago! It was as close to a legal separation as it comes, though not by my choice! What was I supposed to do? Spend the rest of my life alone? Is that what you did?" Tim asked angrily. Normally he'd believe it suicide to speak to Gibbs this way, but right now he was too angry to care. Gibbs had just accused him of mistreating his wife because of a situation she forced on him. he was not going to take that lying down.
If looks could kill, Tim would be dead and stiff by now with the look Gibbs was giving him. "Watch yourself, McGee."
Tim glared back. He was way passed intimidation at that point. "Why? It's true, isn't it? Who the hell are you to judge me when you did the same?!"
"One difference, McGee. I thought my wife was dead!" Gibbs said angrily.
"And mine walked out on me!" Tim yelled.
"To protect you!" Gibbs yelled back.
"I didn't know that, and even if I had, so what? Why is that supposed to matter to me? She still left. All her reasons mean is that she made a decision without even considering what I wanted! So don't think you can stand there and judge me for the way I handled my wife leaving me!" Tim continued to yell.
"She's my daughter!" Gibbs said angrily.
"Fine! Defend her all you want. I wouldn't expect anything else, but don't accuse me of mistreating her because it's crap! If anything, it's the other way around!" Tim said angrily before storming out of the room. He walked past Shannon and Kelly towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" Shannon asked.
"For some air," Tim said.
Shannon reached out and grabbed his arm. "No, you're not leaving here alone. Not until Nick gives the all clear that we're safe. You wanna be alone, fine, but you do it in another room in this house.
Tim huffed, yanked his arm free and headed up the stairs to one of the bedrooms.